


Y Cada Dia

by crying_colors



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/F, F/M, In The Heights Au, M/M, Modern Era, Oops, and its great, i started writing this in history class, if you haven't listened to ith yet i'd wait until after this work is complete, medda is the embodiment of the “i just want to sit here and feed my birds” meme, please help, so basically they're all latino, unless you want like major spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 10:13:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14258775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crying_colors/pseuds/crying_colors
Summary: this is a completely self-indulgent in the heights au i’m writing on the side of from the nothing. you don’t need to know in the heights before listening to this, though (but its v good i recommend listening to it if you haven’t yet). a lot of the character dynamics are kinda confusing at the moment (@ the jacobs family) but it’ll get explained. i’m not completely faithful to the characters either (for example, davey is vanessa but sarah is nina so nina + vanessa would have to have been siblings, which they’re n o t) but the plot is pretty much the same. every song has its own chapter,,, anyways that’s all this is a mess but i hope it’s a good kind of mess xx





	Y Cada Dia

**Author's Note:**

> featuring shitty google translate spanish + the few spanish phrases i actually knew beforehand

When the morning began with  _ Piragüero _  declaring war on the sun, the residents of the barrio should have known that the day would be downright  _ intolerable _ .

 

_ Piragüero- _  or Piragua Guy, or Crutchie, the kid had more nicknames than even Blink did- was without fail always the first person up. He was also essentially the neighborhood’s wake-up call, loudly proclaiming his business to anyone who would listen. He was surprisingly good at his job, considering he relied on a crutch and navigation of the barrio wasn’t the easiest task, nevermind with a cart and a bum leg.

 

Anyways, Jack had been sprawled out in his bed, limbs tangled in the sheets when he first woke up. He shook his head and groaned a little as he heard shouting outside, rolling over and shoving a pillow over his head to try to stifle it. When that was unsuccessful, he accepted his fate of an early morning and slid out of the bed.

 

Now that Jack was actually up, though, he thought he could make out the words. Tugging on the first clean-looking shirt in his line of sight, he shoved out of the room and popped open the nearest window.

 

Jack certainly did not expect to see his own damn brother standing on the side of the road, cart abandoned as he shouted at both the sky and Finch.

 

“ _ El maldito sol nos va a cocinar!” _

 

_ “Seguramente tu pierna no puede prever el futuro, Muleta!” _

 

_ “Mal, Finch, la pierna lo sabe todo _ !”

 

Jack watched the banter in amusement, face resting in his hands, before he interjected. “Crutchie’s never been wrong before, Finch, I think you need to check yourself.”

 

Both people whipped around, Crutchie puffing out his chest in victory as Finch made a face. “Whatever you say, mom!”

 

Jack watched as Crutchie whacked Finch with an empty paper cup, barely catching what was said next. “Don’t speak to your mother in that tone.”

 

Jack snorted, shaking his head before changing the subject. “How are you?”

 

“As always,” Crutchie called, cutting off Finch as their banter picked up. Jack decided this would be a suitable time to call out “Play nicely, kids, you’ve probably already woken up half the  _ barrio _  and if you don’t quiet down you’ll wake up everyone from here to East Secaucus!” and slam the window shut.

 

From then on, Jack was in a hurry to make himself look at least semi-presentable- running his fingers through his hair, tugging on whatever pants he could find that didn’t have paint on them, et cetera. It didn’t take long, thankfully, and after just a few minutes he was chasing off someone lingering outside what was essentially  _ his _  alleyway and opening the grate to his bodega- the small store he’d inherited from his parents after their death.

 

Unfortunately, though, just after he’d jammed the grate open he realized the fridge had broken overnight. This was revealed in probably the least pleasant way possible- as soon as he cracked open the door to the mini-fridge so he could make coffee, he was hit with the rancid smell of  _ spoiled milk _ .

 

After kicking the fridge door shut and spilling a few  _ colorful _  curses, Jack reeled back out of disgust just in time to notice  _ Abuela _  padding in the direction of the shop, humming a tune to herself. Of course, she wasn’t actually Jack’s Abuela- whatever biological family Jack had was off in the Dominican Republic, probably living the life Jack wish he had (excluding his cousin, of course. Jack also counted Crutchie as family- of course he did, Crutchie was like a kid brother, really- but that was more of a self-proclaimed thing than anything else.) She was like the entire barrio’s Abuela, to the point where she insisted everyone called her that instead of her actual name, Medda.

 

After briefly considering catapulting himself over the shop counter, Jack decided just leaning out of the opening and shouting was a safer option, for the both of them. “Abuela! My fridge broke, I got  _ café _  but no  _ con leche _ !”

 

She perked up at Jack calling out to her, turning and waving animatedly. “My mother used to use condensed milk instead, try that, Jack!  _ Pacencia Y Fe _ !”

 

Jack waved as she continued on her way, turning once she was out of sight. He snatched two cans of condensed milk off the shelves, sighing softly.  _ He could have sold those _ . Oh well, sacrifices were to be made.

 

With the coffee started, Jack leaned forward on the counter and took a moment to breathe. People were beginning to wake up across the  _ barrio _ , though the only people out and about were the shopowners or people with morning shifts.

 

That reminded Jack, this was the least busy time for his shop. Everyone was either sleeping or getting ready for their own days- the perfect time to do a little drifting.

 

Instead of taking the door like a normal person, Jack actually did catapult himself over the counter of his shop this time and took off down the street, almost knocking some kid over in the process. Either the kid was used to this sort of thing by now or he had a great amount of respect for latinos that regularly vaulted through open gaps, because instead of cursing or shouting or even jumping he mock-saluted and continued down the street.

 

It was still the ass-crack of dawn, so Jack shouldn’t have been surprised that the resident taxi company was just opening up when Jack jogged over to the door. It was right down the road from Jack’s shop, so running had been kind of pointless, but Jack was going to have to sit behind the counter for the rest of the day once he so he’d take what exercise he could get.

 

Mr. Jacob had his keys jammed in the door, trying to get the old thing to budge as his wife leaned against the wall next to him, watching the struggle in amusement. He got the door to unlock right as Jack strolled up, making a victorious sound as he turned to face him. “Morning, Jack!”

 

Jack waved and dipped his head slightly to the couple. “The shop’s open if you want to stop by before the morning rush.  _ Pan caliente, café con leche _ ?”

 

Mr. Jacobs pushed open the creaky door, looking almost as bemused as Mrs. Jacobs had moments ago. “ _ Sí _ , Usnavi. I’ve got twenty dollars to spare too, if you can add however many lottery tickets that’ll buy to the order while you’re at it.”

 

Mrs. Jacobs-  _ Esther _ , Jack remembered suddenly, snorting a little at himself at his ability to remember at least one of their first names for once- mockingly swatted at her husband. “One ticket, that’s it! You can barely afford Sarah’s tuition, you don’t need to be blowing what you can spare on the lottery.”

 

_ Sarah Jacobs _ , Jack thought in amusement,  _ has got to be the luckiest member of the barrio. _  She’d gotten accepted into college- Stanford University, of all places- and would be the first in her family to attend an actual school. Her brother also lived in the barrio, and was well as smart as she was, but had decided to separate from his family to try navigating life on his own for a bit. That, Jack would never understand. But hey, he still stayed in the barrio… for some reason, which Jack also wouldn’t understand, but eh.

 

The two people bickering in front of him tugged him out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat slightly and laughed, to which Esther turned, grinned, and spread her arms a bit. “Don’t mind him, he’s all excited- Sarah caught a flight in early this morning. That reminds me, you should stop by for dinner, there’s plenty to eat!”

 

Jack waved a bit as they disappeared into their cab company, and instead of heading back to his own shop, he slipped into the salon next door to the Jacob’s.

 

The salon smelled like hair products, teenagers, and febreeze, which while wasn’t the most pleasant, was at least familiar. Right away Jack noticed Mike and Ike sprawled out over the counter, talking while Blink spun lazily on one of the stools and scrolled through his phone. Jack was able to catch what seemed like the start of a story as he padded over and leaned against the counter.

 

“So then  _ Snitch _  walked in the room-“

 

“Uh-huh,”

 

“The  _ whole place _  smells like sex and cheap perfume-“

 

“ _ Damn _ !”

 

“It smells like one of those trees that you hang from the rearview!”

 

“ _ Snitch told you all this down to the smell? _ ”

 

“Yes, shut the hell up and let me finish the story. So he screams, ‘ _ Who’s in there with you, Elmer _ ?’ or whatever, and he doesn’t answer so he kicks the damn door in with a bat! He’s in bed with Albert- y’know, the one from the liquor store down the road.”

 

“No me diga!”

 

Jack choked back a laugh, instead waving and backing out of the salon so he could avoid experiencing any other second-hand embarrassment.

 

Making the short walk back to his own  _ bodega _ , Jack was just in time to have the first pot of coffee for the morning rush. He snatched a styrofoam cup from behind the counter, drumming his fingers on the table until the steady flow of people showed up to buy coffee and whatever else they needed.

 

It was about a half hour after that before the one other employee actually showed up. It was Jack’s cousin, Race, with a bit of paint smeared on one cheek and hair slightly messier than usual.

 

“Racer, you’re late.” Jack feigned a tone of exasperation, sticking his tongue out at the teenager and screwing up his face.

 

“Whatever. You know you love me,” Race called, not even looking at Jack and instead heading straight for the back room.

 

“That’s debatable,” Jack shot after him, turning back to the entrance just in time to watch Katherine try to push on the pull door to get into the Bodega. He barked a laugh, raising a hand and calling out. “Katherine!”

 

“Get me a milky way and a coffee for my boss this instant,” She said, a joking edge to her tone as she puffed out her chest and waved a hand at Jack.

 

“One cream, five sugars,” Jack recited, shooting a look at his friend as he grabbed a cup, the coffee pot, and the packets of sweetener.

 

“Indeed, Jack, I see you’re learning well. Hey, has Davey shown up yet?” Katherine smirked and leaned forward on the counter while Jack poured the coffee with one hand and swatted at her with the other. She opened her mouth to probably make another snarky comment, but she was interrupted by the bell announcing someone entering the shop.

 

“Speak of the devil,” She uttered, elbowing Jack and taking the coffee and her candy bar. Davey had pushed into the bodega, talking hurriedly on the phone.

 

Jack busied himself by organizing the things behind the counter, Katherine shooting him an unimpressed look as she moved to sit on top of said counter. “Ask him out,” She muttered to Jack as Davey pocketed his phone and padded over to them. Katherine started to scold Jack, but he sat up and chirped out a “Hey!” to Davey so as to interrupt her.

 

“You owe me a bottle of cold champagne,” Davey joked, leaning against the wall a few feet from Jack and Kath. Jack hoped his expression didn’t waver as he cooly responded, “What, are you moving finally?”

 

Jack and Davey had always joked about that, getting out of the barrio. A good amount of banter was based off of it- Jack wanted to leave the barrio for the Dominican Republic, Davey wanted  _anywhere_   _else_. So, naturally, they bet on who could get out first; it was like a game, where the loser had to buy champagne for the victor. Fortunately it was just jokes (Jack was pretty sure, at least), because Jack didn’t think either of them could actually afford champagne.

 

“I’ve got to get a credit check, but after that I’m hoppin’ on the downtown train and gettin’ out of here.” Davey was grinning victoriously, Jack beaming back at him.

 

“Well, I don’t have  _ champagne _  on me, but I do have sub-par coffee. It’s on the house, so long as you promise to still visit!” Jack leaned over the counter to clap Davey on the back.

 

“Of course I’ll visit, I’ve got family here.” Davey snorted, pawing Jack off of him. “And you, I guess.”

 

Jack faked a wounded expression, to which Katherine called out, “Get a room!”

 

Jack, ever the one for subtlety, turned around and whacked Katherine on the back of the head.

 

“See ‘ya later, Jack,” Davey laughed, grabbing the coffee and stepping back out of he shop.

 

The second he was gone, Katherine whipped around and smacked Jack on the arm. “Oh, smooth operator, there she goes!”

 

When Jack didn’t immediately banter back, Katherine slid behind the counter and sat on the stool next to Jack. “Yo, take a minute and go walk outside. You look exhausted, lost, Jack. Don’t let life slide. The whole world’s struggling, yeah, times are tight, but you’re stuck to this corner like a street light!”

 

Jack stared at Katherine for a few seconds, before letting out a dry laugh. “Yeah, I’m a street light, choking on the heat; The world’s spinnin’ around and I’m frozen to my seat. The people that I know all keep on rollin’ down the street, but every day is different!”

 

Jack pushed himself back to his feet while Race called out from the back room. “Hey, Nerd, stop speaking in rhymes.”

 

Jack decidedly ignored him. “My parents came with nothing, Kath. Sure, we’re poor, but at least we got the store. It’s all ‘bout the legacy they left with me, it’s destiny, and one day I’ll save up enough to hop the blue and set up back in DR. We gotta keep working, though.” He lowered his head, staring at the ground for longer than necessary. “Speaking of, you need to get back to the taxi service. Your shift starts soon.”

 

Jack moved past Katherine, not giving her time to talk before he said, “I’ve got to go grab some boxes from the alley outside. See you.”

 

With that, Jack stepped outside. Katherine watched him go, before nodding to Racetrack and leaving. The air of awkward tension evaporated as people left to go start their days.


End file.
